Dear Reader,
If you, like me, have enjoyed the first rays of sun this Spring, maybe gone to the park, listened to the leaves rustle in the wind, or watched plants all around you blossom and bloom, then you too will be in the mood to appreciate the beauty and the absurdity that is life.
In this edition, our writers explore life in all its facets, and what better medium is there for such a task but poetry!
Exploring life means first taking stock of what there is and what there could have been. Ghosts of People by Maite explores a friendship that has grown apart, and the feeling of loss for what could have been. In A New Kind of Nowruz, Niusha introduces us to the Iranian New Year: rituals filled with deep meaning and phone calls surrounded by even deeper anxiety, while my own poem, War Drums and Pamphlets, contrasts the struggle that people face every day with the war we are called upon to prepare for.
Having taken stock, we invite you to dare to dream bigger, and to embrace your own potential. Kyriaki’s poem, All Streams Lead to the Ocean, is about daring to take that leap into the unknown and leaving the old and familiar behind, while Dragana’s Elephant is in the Room explores the danger of white lies stacked upon more white lies and encourages you to embrace your truth.
But life is more than finding problems and facing them, there is beauty all around us that seeks to calm and content us if we only let it for a moment. The Meaning of Life by Tanja, calls upon us all to love those around us and to let ourselves be loved by them in return. Last, but certainly not least, Anett’s Sunday’s Edge invites us to embrace a moment of quiet solitude and to let past memories brush over us and warm us like a hot cup of tea or a thick blanket in winter.
We hope that these poems will speak to you, that they will help you take stock, dream bigger, and embrace beauty. We invite you to take a moment and feel with us: happiness, sorrow, content, dread, relief, and so much more.
With warm regards,
Leo
